- Image via Wikipedia
Intercourse, Pennsylvania, a busy tourist village, saw strange bedfellows milling across the community park on Saturday. The Amish family and the tattooed gang of New York tough guys from Rescue Ink, one of 50 animal rescue groups on site, were among the 1500 people who showed up for Puppy Mill Awareness Day on Saturday. You know you’ve got a good thing going anytime you can bring very different groups together for a common cause.
If you hadn’t heard, new laws going into effect Oct 9 in Pa. require large kennel operators to clean their facilities daily—can you believe something so obvious needs to be legislated? Speaks volumes about these people, doesn’t it? Anyway, they will also need to get rid of stacked and wire-floored cages, and give the dogs regular exercise and provide veterinary care. Guess they’ll have to spend some money, won’t they?
I hope the Dept of Ag puts together a citizens’ board to help enforce the new laws, putting a stop to any possible side deals or payoffs that may occur with Department investigators. How can avenues of corruption be blocked outside implementing complete transparency?
Remember the guy who first got Oprah’s attention with the anti-puppy mill billboard? That was Bill Smith of Main Line Animal Rescue, Chester Springs PA, who was one of the speakers there. While he’s glad a beginning is in place, he’s also concerned about enforcement. And what about all the hundreds of small operations who claim(my emphasis) to sell less than 60 dogs a year, Smith asks–why should those dogs have no protection? My question is, if you’re selling to the public, shouldn’t the public be protected from mistreated animals? We often see the results of unsocialized and abused dogs in headlines. And even small shelters are regulated.
Suzanne Cassidy reports that Helen Ebersole, president and co-founder of United Against Puppy Mills, said while more people are aware that most dogs in pet stores come from puppy mills, she says the “don’t ask, don’t tell” culture remains when it comes to puppy mills in Lancaster County. Neighbors of puppy mill operators are reluctant to call authorities. ”They don’t want to offend anybody. They don’t want to make waves. It’s often one step forward, two steps back.”
Her group will work to ensure the State enforces the new regulations. They also monitor the zoning requests made by kennel operators in local municipalities. “There’s still a lot to do,” Ebersole said. “We just have to stay with it, be dogged about it.” At least she’s kept her sense of humor!
To read more, see Suzanne Cassidy’s article for Lancaster’s Sunday News. And here’s a video you might have missed:
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=808faad1-cf52-497c-a3a5-8df2f585e975)
"if you’re selling to the public, shouldn’t the public be protected from mistreated animals? "
That's an excellent way of putting it. It's great to see Pennsylvania make some legal strides towards protecting companion animal welfare. A big huray to all the individuals and small groups behind this success.
I'm not sure that a citizen's board would do much. We have one here in Kansas and they aren't able to do much about the problem breeders. The only way I see to eradicate the problem is to criminalize neglect at USDA licensed facilities. Currently infractions at usda licensed facilities carry no financial penalty or jail time for the owner. So in effect, a usda license is a license to abuse animals. It's hard to believe American's have allowed this to go on for as long as they have but I was just at a rescue group celebration at a local park and a couple people had brought their breeder bought puppies with them. My first trip to the KS HUmane Society I saw a Cadillac with a sign in the rear window that read 'Boxer Puppies 4 Sale'.
I mean its stuff like that which indicates, to me anyway, that this is fundamentally a problem of human consciousness. So love them all regardless and eventually, with enough education efforst, we may find ourselves living up to our end of the companion-animal contract.
Hi, and thanks for your very thoughtful comment…agree with your comment on USDA licensed facilities: Without penalties, it's a free for all. It is disheartening to come face to face with people out there breeding who are completely unqualified to be doing that job–and to see that they are only doing it for the money…poverty bites and people do what they do. We can only control what we do to help. Pet problems stem from social problems, so there's plenty of places from which to choose to push change forward:)
I was at Awareness Day and it was a great event. However, I have to say that being in Lancaster amidst so many puppy mills was overwhelming. If you've never been there, what you see is vast, beautifully manicured farmland. There are lots of horse drawn carriages and every farm looks perfect. BUT… if you know about the puppy mills (there are hundreds), all you see when you look around is silent suffering. You can't see or hear the dogs because the farms are so big and set back from the road, but you know it's there, and it's just terrible. What sealed the deal, was when I was on my way out of town, I passed a horse-drawn carriage (Amish – of course) with a sad-looking dog in a 2×2 cage in the back – probably being transported to another mill. So sad, and such a powerful image. Boycott Amish goods until they can get their community cleaned up!
Hey, it's really good to hear your up close and personal report on this event! As you said, when you know about the hundreds of mills in the vicinity, the oppressiveness of that knowing completely changes the atmosphere, especially when mixed with the positive turnout of the event and the lighthearted nature of a tourist town.
One of my favorite themes in life is the fact that one person can be effective in creating great change; that's why the Amish family present was so important–not all Amish are behind the cruel treatment meted out at puppy mills. Real change comes from within. (Like the Chinese, it's taken generations to get them away from eating dogs to keeping them as pets. And now there are protests near markets that still sell dog meat; the younger generation chastizing their grandparents and great grandparents.)
The pressure we bring to bear is very important to get the message through to those inside that culture ready to hear and act on it. Thanks so much for adding your voice to this conversation!